Ok, so Christmas is just round the corner, and if you haven’t already started your shopping…then what are you waiting for? But just before you get your wallet out… have a think – could you save yourself some money?

Christmas is going to cost you a lot this year, and finding things ‘on the cheap’ can be quite hard.

So that’s why I’ve put this short guide together, to help you reduce the cost of Christmas the easy way.

1) Use price checkers to lower the cost of presents

There are plenty of websites that provide free ‘price-checking’ facilities, so you can compare the price of your desired item from several retailers, and find out which one offers it the cheapest.

Price-checking facilities can help you save some serious cash at Christmas. For example, last year – I used a price-checker to find the cheapest retailer of the latest computer game for my son, and found that one retailer was offering it $20 cheaper than another one!

So, just do a search for ‘price-checker’ on a search engine and take a look at the results!

2) Use discount vouchers

Shopping for food, drinks and presents can be a real drag, and before you know it, you’ve spend $100s. So, to help you reduce the cost of your shopping, you should take a look at the selection of discount vouchers on the internet.

Just search for ‘discount vouchers’ on a search engine and you should be provided with plenty of links.

Some vouchers will offer you the chance to get 50% off at your favourite retailers, while others will allow you to buy cheaper food, drinks and other items.

Discount vouchers aren’t just available online, you can find them in your local paper and some retailers may even give them out once you have shopped there.

3) Shop online

This is the easiest way to do your Christmas shopping – you can order everything you need online and have it delivered straight to your door.

Online shopping tends to be cheaper than shopping in your local store. The demand for products can be much higher online, and retailers lower their prices to compete with each other – so look out for the cheapest online stores, and like the first point in the guide…check the prices using a price checker to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

So, there you have it, a short but sweet guide on how to reduce the cost of Christmas and stay out of debt… the easy way. (for more debt information visit ThinkMoney)

Of course, there are many other ways in which you can save yourself money over the festive period, but the ones mentioned above are certainly worth a try!

Thanks to hannah for this guest post.